STCW 95 III/I Engineer Officer of the Watch – Examination Route (earlier called as Class IV course)
DURATION:
If a student is able to clear all his written and oral examinations in time as well as his workshop training skills prorgramme, he can hope to be back with his COC in 4 months time. The visa period that he gets is likely to be about 10 - 12 months. MCA oral exams can be given at any time during his stay in the UK after having received his Notice of Eligibility. IAMI written exams are held 5 times in a year whilst the workshop training duration is 15 weeks. Hence, if a person sits for his IAMI exams during the workshop period and also clears his MCA orals during the workshop period, he would have completed everything in 15 weeks i.e. 3 1/2 months. It takes 2 weeks to apply and get your COC after having cleared your MCA orals, IAMI written and workshop exams. In such a case, the student can come back to India with his COC in 4 months. Else, he would have to appear at the next IAMI written exam dates which comes every 2 - 3 months.
COURSE STARTING DATE:
January 2010 ; May 2010 ; September 2010 ; January 2011 ; May 2011 ; September 2011
ELIGIBILITY:
Applicants must have a minimum 30 months sea service (including 6 months engine room watchkeeping duties in the last 12 months) whilst holding a STCW III/4 Watch Rating Certificate. Candidates must complete an MNTB Training Record Book to the required standard which is issued to them only after they have received the Letter of Initial Assessment. Candidates will then return to the academy for tutorials, IAMI Written Exams and MCA Oral Examination to gain initial EOOW certification.
ADMISSION PROCEDURE:
First of all, a "LETTER OF INITIAL ASSESSMENT" has to be obtained from the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency), UK. For this you will need to send the following documents to the UK:
Completed Letter of Initial Assessment (LIA) Application Form CDC STCW 95 short courses (PST / PSSR / FPFF / EFA) Chief Engineer's Testimonials after watch keeping certificate STCW III/4 Watch Rating Certificate 2 passport size photographs DD of 57 GBP in favour of "The Maritime and Coastguard Agency"
Please note that all documents have to be sent in original only as photocopies or attested documents are not acceptable. The processing time taken by the MCA is 28 days + postage time. .....PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR SEA TIME AFTER YOUR STCW III / 4 WATCH RATING CERTIFICATE ISSUE DATE WILL ONLY BE COUNTED. ALL THE SEA TIME PRIOR TO ISSUE OF THIS CERTIFICATE IS NOT COUNTED BY THE MCA..... If a person is joining ship / on board ship, he can give attested copies of the above documents after the same have been attested by a Chief Engineer. The Chief Engineer should also on a separate sheet give details of their full name, date of birth, certificate of competency number and the administration under which their COC was issued. Please email to us at kunal.anshuman@springdaleindia.com so that we can email the LIA form to you.
Once you have received the Letter of Initial Assessment from the MCA, kindly get in touch with us. To order for the MNTB Record Book / Portfolio, you will need to submit the following documents to us:
Completed Engine Course Booking Form Photocopy of the Letter of Initial Assessment Photocopy of the first page of your Passport Photocopy of all the pages of your CDC 1 passport size photograph Demand Draft of 595 GBP in favour of "Warsash Maritime Academy"
Please post the above documents to our address in Mumbai, given below. The college on receipt of your documents and payment will issue you an MNTB Training Record Book and the EK (General + Motor) Study Guide.Please note that Indian Training Record Books are not acceptabe in UK.
If you face any difficulty in making the demand draft in British Pound, please contact Mr. Dayanand or Mr. Pradee Tambe from Cox and Kings, India at 09930992923 / 09819058853
Now the applicant will undertake a minimum of 6 months of sea time to MCA requirements, whilst completing the MNTB Training Record Book on board the ship. This is an absolute minimum requirement. The overall total sea service (after STCW III / 4 watch rating certificate) must not be less than 30 months, of which at least 6 months of the last 12 months served must be as first assistant to the Engineer Officer of the Watch.
For booking a course (only possible after you have received your Letter of Initial Assessment), the student has to pay a deposit of 1200 GBP in favour of WARSASH MARITIME ACADEMY. This deposit will be adjusted against your workshop tuition fee, the balance of which you have to pay on joining the course in UK. This deposit is not refundable but can be transferred in the name of the student against a future course date starting within 12 months of the first course starting date. For information regarding cancellations / refunds, please refer to the Course and Fee Guidance Notes on the college website.
If a student wants to apply for the MNTB Book and book a seat also simultaneously, he can make a payment of 500 GBP + 1200 GBP together. In such a case, the student is assured that he has got a seat confirmed from the college and will not miss out on the batch because of seats having got filled up earlier.
Please note that seats get filled upto 12 months before the course commencement date. Hence, it is advisable to apply early and if possible the students should book their seat whilst applying for the MNTB Training Record Book.
STCW SHORT COURSE DETAILS:
The following short courses need to be completed by the students from India, preferably before going to the UK:
Advanced Fire Fighting
Medical First Aid
Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Craft
If for some reason, the student is not able to complete these courses prior to going to UK, he can come back from the UK, finish the short courses, send the certificates to MCA UK and the MCA will post the COC to the student.
COST OF LIVING IN SOUTHAMPTON:
The approximate living cost is as given below but it will vary from person to person:
Accommodation rent: £ 180 – 220 / month / person
Food (home cooked): £ 40 – 60 / month / person
Electricity and heating bills: £ 10 – 20 / month / person
EDUCATION LOANS:
Most banks in India do not understand what is a COC course and hence you will find resistance in their giving you education loans. They will come up with objections that the course is not a degree / diploma course, they do not give loans for nautical courses, ask you to get approval from DG Shipping about the course, tell you that you are not a student as you are already working and hence they cannot give you a loan. However, 80% students going for COC courses do still manage to get an education loan. It is always advisable to apply to atleast 5 different banks for your education loan because you can never be sure that any particular bank may give you a loan. We have come across many cases where the bank has promised a student to give the loan and later backed out at the last moment. Hence, it is very important that you apply to atleast 5 different banks and hope that some bank will help you out. If you happen to know the bank manager personally, getting an education loan becomes that much easier. We can give you loan sanction letters of past students which may be of help to you in convincing the bank manager to give you a loan. The loan processing time may take anywhere between 1 week to 1 month. You can apply for an education loan only in the city where you reside for e.g. somebody staying in Delhi has to apply for his loan from Delhi only and can’t apply from Mumbai. You may also contact CREDILA for education loans. CREDILA is a non banking financial company approved by the RBI and they specialize in only giving educational loans. They have given loans to students of WARSASH MARITIME ACADEMY in the past. They would however ask you for the necessary documents like collateral, guarantors, etc. You may contact Mr. Sunil Sawant of CREDILA at the following numbers: 09987759433 / 09869165643. You may also try to take Loan Against Jewellery. This is the fastest means of getting a loan as the money is disbursed on the same day. Most banks for e.g. HDFC, ICICI, etc. give loans against jewellery.
FLIGHT TICKETS:
If a student wishes, he can book his own flight tickets or we will book for him if required. We do have tie-ups with airlines which helps us to get an additional 10 kgs of extra baggage for our students. Also, we try to ensure that no student travels alone by having atleast 3 – 4 students on the same flight. The flight fares vary considerably depending upon which time of the year you are flying and how early are you booking the tickets. For e.g., a one way fare from Mumbai to London will vary from 15,000 – 22,000 Rs/- whilst a return fare i.e. Mumbai – London – Mumbai will vary from 27,000 – 45,000 Rs/-.
HOW TO REACH SOUTHAMPTON:
There are direct / indirect flights from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cohin to London. On arrival at the London Heathrow airport, you will have to go through immigration check up which may take about 1 – 2 hours depending upon the rush at the airport. Joining the London Heathrow Airport is the National Express Coach station / bus stop. You can buy the bus ticket at the bus stop and the fare is approximately £15 for a one way trip. The journey duration from London Heathrow airport to Southampton is about 75 – 90 minutes and there is a bus leaving every 45 minutes on an average. If you happen to arrive at London airport after 9 PM, it is advisable to stay back at the airport in the night and take the early morning bus to Southampton. You will find many tourists / students staying overnight at the London airport and taking the morning coach to their respective destination. You will not be charged for staying during the night at the airport but you will have to make do with a chair only or maybe sit on the floor with your luggage. On reaching Southampton bus stop, you will take a taxi to your landlord’s house or to a hotel. As the bus stop is located in the heart of the city of Southampton, your taxi fare will not be more than £5.
TRAVELLING TO WARSASH MARITIME ACADEMY FROM YOUR HOME:
The college runs a free bus service only for the students from the University campus (located about 10 minutes walking distance from your likely residence) to Warsash Maritime Academy and back, five days a week. The college bus time table will be available at the reception of the college. The bus journey would be about 35 minutes. Some students buy their own car and share the petrol expenses with other students who travel along with them. You can drive on an Indian driving license for upto 1 year in the UK.
ACCOMMODATION:
The following are the different ways, you can get a house in Southampton.
2 weeks prior to your leaving for Southampton, we will give you telephone numbers of the landlords who rent out their houses in Southampton. You can call them and express your interest in taking their house on rent. The house can’t be finalized over the phone as an agreement will be signed between the landlord and the tenant. Moreover, the landlord must find you to be acceptable to him and you also need to see the house before you confirm the house.
Students from previous batch usually have some rooms vacant and they email us to pass on their details to the new students who will be coming. We shall pass on their details to you so that you can get in touch with them.
Some students decide to rent a Bed and Breakfast (B&B) for one day on their arrival in Southampton. They then see a few houses and decide which one to take.
On signing the contract with the landlord, you will have to pay one month’s of rent as security deposit as well as the rent in advance for that month. Please ensure that you keep a copy of your contract safely with you and insist that the rent will be paid by cheques only. Ask the landlord for a copy of rent receipt as well for your safety. Most contract’s come with a one month notice period which means that you will have to give one month’s notice before vacating or else you may lose your deposit money. At the time of returning the deposit money, the landlord may make deductions for any damage that the tenant may have done to the property. Most of the houses are usually fully furnished i.e. you will have a bed, mattress, wardrobe, study table, curtains, gas stove, washing machine, refrigerator, etc. A TV may be there but you will have to pay for the cable connection. The houses are usually 3 – 4 bedroom + hall + kitchen. The bathroom and kitchen are usually shared between the student’s whilst each student has an independent room for himself. Student’s usually do their own cooking as eating outside is very expensive in the UK. You will have to buy your own utensils as they are not provided for by the landlord.
CARRYING MONEY TO UK:
Students can carry money to the UK as currency notes, travelers cheques, demand drafts and international student debit cards. We advise the students to carry about £ 500 as cash (£ 1,000 if they are carrying their family) and the remaining by loading their international student debit cards. International student’s debit cards are provided free or cost to the students and we will provide you with one prior to your going to the UK. The advantages of students debit card are given below;
You can swipe the debit card in the college and pay the college fees. Hence, you save the money on making demand draft (i.e. approximately 700 Rs/-).
For any purchase in the UK, you can swipe your student’s debit card without any additional charges instead of having to pay in cash.
If you lose the demand draft, it is a very tedious process to get your bank to cancel the draft as you will have to file an FIR in the police station and follow up the other procedural formalities. If you lose a debit card, you simply call the bank, they will cancel the debit card and post a new card to you for a small fee.
If you fall short of money in the UK, your parents / friends in India can contact the bank and pay the bank in Indian rupees to top up the card. You can withdraw the money from your card in the UK. It saves your parents the hassle of trying to figure out how to do the telegraphic transfer from India and the charges involved in the telegraphic transfer.
If you are carrying a demand draft in your personal name for your living expenses in the UK, you will have to wait till your bank account is opened in the UK. This process may take 2 – 4 weeks and then only will you be able to deposit the demand draft. If you are carrying an international student’s debit card, you can withdraw cash from any ATM machine in the UK at any point of time. You must note that your bank will charge you for cash withdraw from the ATM using your international students debit card.
The best procedure is to load your card in India with money required for your balance tuition fee payment and £ 2,000 for your living expenses (apart from the £ 500 that you carry in cash). On joining the college, pay the college tuition fees by swiping your student’s debit card. Once, you have opened your bank account, you can withdraw the cash from your student’s debit card and put into your bank account. Your bank will issue you with a cheque book and the local bank ATM card for money withdrawal which will not charge your for ATM withdrawals.
VISA RULES:
The visa rules keep on changing very frequently. Hence, the rules in the past may not be acceptable in the future. There is a separate page on this website giving information on UK visa application procedures.
CONTACT US:
Kunal Anshuman, Official Representative (India) – Warsash Maritime Academy, Southampton, UK. Tel: 022 3250 6858 / 9892725375 Email: kunal.anshuman@springdaleindia.com Visit: www.springdaleindia.com Address: Office No. 529, Mastermind IV, Royal Palms, Aarey Colony, Goregaon E, Mumbai – 400 065